Sinn Féin in government would seek to improve garda recruitment, says McDonald during canvass in Cork

Sinn Féin in government would “make it an attractive option” for people to join the gardaí, would put a premium on community policing, and would address the shortage of gardaí by opening a second Garda training college, the party leader has said.

Mary Lou McDonald was canvassing in the CastleWest Shopping Centre in Ballincollig on Saturday afternoon with her party’s two sitting Cork City TDs Thomas Gould and Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and their respective running mates Joe Lynch and Michelle Cowhey Shahid.

Policing “is a big issue on the doorsteps and has been an issue throughout this campaign,” she told The Echo.

“People have a right to feel safe in their homes, on the streets, and going about their business, and we need to get back to that place.”

She added that communities need to see an investment in community work, youth development, “all of the things that are like the glue that hold communities together”.

On the issue of water quality in Cork city, Ms McDonald said there needed to be large-scale investment in water infrastructure across the country.

“Now the good news is that we have the Apple tax billions which the Government, remember, didn’t want — they went to considerable lengths not to get it,” she said. 

“That money has to be invested in infrastructure.

“We’ve been very clear that, for us, priorities reside around housing, but also the infrastructure that’s required for construction to happen — and key to that is our water infrastructure. We all know that for a very long time the right investment hasn’t been made, so we need to turn that around.

“It’s not going to happen overnight — I’m not going to pretend that it would — but certainly we have now, for generations, really, knowingly the State has had water infrastructure that simply is not fit for purpose,” Ms McDonald said.

She added that she believed Sinn Féin could seat all four of its city candidates, but whether she becomes taoiseach or not is “in the hands of the people — but I very much hope so”.